Vietnam is widely considered Lyndon Johnsons tragedy, failure, betrayal, depending on your position on the political spectrum. There are two books in print, both entitled Lyndon Johnsons war and both advancing compelling, if sometimes contradictory analysis of the reasons why the series of decisions made between 1964 and 1968 that led to the official justification for escalating the vietnam war, of incidents of august 1964, the first landing of u. S. Combat troops to defend the base in march of 1965, the stepped up escalation of American Forces in country over the next few years until the total was greater than half a million men, change from a military strategy of base security to enclave strategy to what was finally and unfortunately if accurately titled, search and destroy. The shock and humiliation of the 1968 tet offensive and johnsons decision to turn down a request by general william moreland, commander in vietnam, for 200,000 more troops and johnsons decision to withdraw from the 1968 president ial race. Certainly, there is ample justification for referring to vietnam as Lyndon Johnsons war. Johnson escalated it more streeplstreep steeply. Most of the americans who died in american died while johnson was in office. Johnson did not make the commitment to preserve vietnam for communist or part of French Indochina from communist. Johnson did not create South Vietnam and a political entity. That happened when eisenhower was president. Most significantly, vietnam was not johnsons war in the sense that he really didnt want to fight it. As a slew of biographers and historians have made clear, the last thing johnson wanted to be was a war president. He had a soaring domestic agenda. What he called the Great Society. Lyndon johnson was by far the most liberal president we have ever had. If we are defining the term liberal in the matter it has come to be defined in the last 100 years or so. Lyndon johnson believed in the capacity of the federal government to affect positive change in the domestic arena. You understand nothing about the man if you dont get that. Johnson had experienced poverty growing up in east texas. During the depression as a young man, johnson had seen the capability of the federal government to alleviate at least partially the suffering of millions of americans. This was his passion. This was what he hoped would be his president ial legacy, of reform in domestic politics. He felt totally ignorant, illequipped in the field of foreign affairs, unlike his predecessors, kennedy and ic i n eisenhower. Johnson wanted to carry through what he viewed as the unfulfilled promise of the new deal. He believed that world war ii had nipped roosevelts economic and social reform in the bud. He wanted to carry it through to fruition. Vietnam, as johnson recognized from the moment he was thrust into office, was a potentially lethal obstacle on the path to creating the Great Society. The war was consuming a great deal of money, even in 1963, and johnson had a domestic agenda that he knew was going to require massive funding. The war was a potential siphon. It was also a commitment. President s dont renege lightly on american commitment, especially if those are perceived to have been made by a recently assassinated american president. As johnson put it, in one of his most opt quoted remarks, that points out the gendered way in which he tended to conceptualize problems. I knew from the start i was bound to be crucified whichever way i moved. If i left the woman i loved, the Great Society to get involved with a bitch of a war, then i lose all my programs, all my hopes to feed the hungry and shelter the homeless. If i left the war, then i would be seen as a coward and my nation would be seen s as an appeaser and we would find it impossible to accomplish anything for anywhere. Thats what he and america were obliged to do. Lyndon johnson had always dreamed of being the greatest domestic president of this century. He had become without being able to stop it a war president. Not a very good one at that. How did this happen . What happened to Lyndon Johnson and his great liberal dreams . A good place to start looking for an answer to that question is to examine some of the dynamics playing into the president ial election of 1964. Even though this election was a total blowout for johnson, it was also one of the most significant electoral contests in American History. Its a contest in which the candidates views of the future of america diverged so wildly its one of the few elections where you can see the electorate making a choice about which way it wants the country to move. An election doesnt have to be close to be fascinating. Look at roosevelt versus hoover in 1932. Or reagan versus carter in 1980. As i stated, johnson inherited the vietnam commitment from kennedy when kennedy was assassina assassinated. There were roughly 16,000 u. S. Advisors in South Vietnam. The situation was crumbling. Min proved incompetent. He was no administrator. He lasted a few weeks in office. He was succeeded by khan who was slightly more competent but also incredibly corrupt and prone to passing on misleading reports to his american benefactors. Thats one thing that johnson has inherited when he becomes president. Significantly johnson also inherited the kennedy team. The best and the brightest. As im sure you know, its customary for a new president to choose his cabinet. Johnson believed i think with some justification. You can see why he would feel this way. He believed his transition into office would be eased, he believed the National Trauma after the kennedy assassination might be less acute if he kept kennedys cabinet at their posts. Dean rusk remained secretary of state. Most important, robert mac mcnamara remained secretary of defense. As we know from testimony at the time, johnson was in awe, absolute awe of these men. He was a neophyte when it came to Foreign Policy. He felt that he needed the services of these brilliant and worldly advisers. Notice, kennedy is killed in november of 1963. Johnson became president almost exactly a year before the next president ial election. Which meant he had to start running for Office Almost immediately. The area in which he knew he was weakest, which his advisers knew, in which a republican opponent would score the most points, was in Foreign Policy. His utter lack of experience in Foreign Policy. One event that everybody seems to forget in retrospect, which was important at the time, was the communist chinese explosion of a nuclear bomb in 1964. As you might imagine, this increased the perceived threat posed by chie nna to the west. Theres a racist dimension to this as well. In the minds of most american policy make policymakers, the soviets were sophisticated enough you could negotiate with them. They wo appreciate no gains could be worth a nuclear confrontation. American policymakers had a very different view of asians. I ran into a document in the National Archives in college park, maryland in which eisenhower mused during the crisis of 1955 that you never can tell about these fanatical easterners. They seem to be willing to sacrifice millions of lives. Life comes cheap in the east i guess. This sis a standard theme. There was a real fear in the United States about possible nuclear war. Especially with the communist chinese as the election of 1964 drew closer. Johnson had a political dilemma here. Obviously, he had to appear tough on communism. No one could get elected president in america in 1964 if he was perceived as an appeaser. Johnson had to soothe americans to assure them that he would not take any rash measures that might lead to a nuclear holocaust. Its a difficult balancing act. On the latter score, the republicans made matters easy for johnson by nominating arizona senator Barry Goldwater, a hawkish cold warrior whose free market small government philosophy could not have been more at odds with johnsons Great Society idea. Barry goldwater was without question the most conservative candidate for president of a major party since coolidge. Many historians consider goldwater the pioneer of the reagan revolution. Goldwater made a famous remark during the 1964 campaign that we are told that many people lack skills and cannot find jobs because they did not have an education. Thats like saying the people have big feet because they have big shoes. The fact is, most people who have no skills have had no education for the same reason, low intelligence or low ambition. It was in the area of Foreign Policy management that eisenhower that johnson and goldwater differed the most. Goldwater made a number of remarks in the campaign that caused pundits to dub him the mad bomber. For example, he remarked on one occasion, just for fun, i would like to lob a nuclear bomb into the mens room at the kremlin. He said that. Why it had to be the mens room, im not sure. Statements like that made people nervous. There was the famous address at the Republican National convention when he accepted the nomination as republican candidate for president , goldwater stated on that occasion, quote, extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. Which when you think about it is a 60s thing to say. Malcolm x would have agreed with that. Its not often you lump Barry Goldwater and malcolm x in the same category. The principle is the same. Johnson made great Political Capital out of goldwaters mad bomber image. Goldwaters Campaign Slogan in 1964 was, in your heart you know he is right. Johnsons backers lampooned that with in your heart you know he might or in your gut you know he is nuts. The exmrploitation hit its heig in the most famous xhegs shacom. It has been reshown hundreds of times. Let me show that to you now. Five, seven, six, six, eight, ni nine. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Zero. These are the stakes. To make a world in which all of gods children can live. Or to go into the dark. We must either love each other or we must die. Vote for president johnson on november 3rd. The stakes are too high for you to stay home. Not exactly subtle, but it was a tremendously effective political ad. Goldwater did score points off johnson on Foreign Policy, onion s on johnsons timidry. Why arent you doing more to defend our South Vietnamese ally. For one, there was a scandal involving johnsons chief aide walt eer jenkins. He was caught in the mens room of a ymca with another man in a sexual encounter. The scandal was splashed all over the newspapers. This was long before gay liberation. Theres no glee in 1964. Theres no broke its intense homophobia. The American Psychiatric association didnt remove the diagnosis of homosexuality from its manuals list of Mental Illnesses until 1973. Thats obscene but its true. If you look at the press at the time, not only do commentators revile jenkins for his alleged v perversion, but go on about how he is susceptible to blackmail. Every story run on this affair asked to what extent has American Security been compromised, what other security risks does johnson have in his government . Johnsons Campaign Slogan all the way with lbj acquired a new and unsought connotation. Lbj for moral decay, this was a month before the election. The other issue is more difficult to summer. Goldwaters crowds when he came to speak were adoring. He was treated like a rock star. Goldwaters crowds when he came to speak were adoring. He was treated like a rock star. Goldwaters crowds when he came to speak were adoring. He was treated like a rock star. Goldwaters crowds when he came to speak were adoring. He was treated like a rock star. Goldwaters crowds when he came to speak were adoring. He was treated like a rock star. Goldwaters crowds when he came to speak were adoring. He was treated like a rock star. Goldwaters crowds when he came to speak were adoring. He was treated like a rock star. They were misinterpreted by pundits and johnsons staff as representative of a larger groundswell for Barry Goldwater. The fact is, goldwater was handsome and commanding. He was a skilled speaker with a feel for the wellchosen phrase. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. Lyndon johnson had to come to terms with the fact that he, Lyndon Johnson, was just about the most the least charact charismatic man. I might have to attend that. For now, will put him in the character. Its maddening to boil it down to personality. But this was an issue with johnson. It frequently affects scholarly judgment. Johnson said in 1967, ive done more for negros since lincoln. I have taken millions of people out of poverty. Why dont people like me . Because, mr. President , you are not a very likeable man. Its true. He wasnt. He just wasnt. Some of us just arent. Thats the way it is. Some of the most touching quotes you run across from johnson have to do with his enormous insecurity. His need to be liked. If you listen to the Johnson White house tapes, he has conversations with the press secretary in which he talks about how poorly he comes across. He describes himself as a hick and a freckle belly and a pecker wood surrounded by kennedy people. The sad thing is, he wasnt far wrong. In terms of how he came across to many people. He just rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. He was a big, gross, overbearing sweaty person. Johnson tried his darnest by looking somber to the point of intestinal discomfort but made you think of the large, dishonest Warner Brothers cartoon rooster foghorn leghorn. As some of you know, johnson taped his conversations while he was president. I would like to play a few minutes from a telephone conversation he had with his tailor from august of 1964. This comes from a documentary about johnson and unfortunately, the makers of the documentary had actors standing in for the people speaking on the tape. Its distracting. The actor for johnson doesnt look like johnson. This is johnsons actual voice august 1964. Im not saying johnson was drunk when he made this call. Im saying, i hope he was drunk. Go head, sir. You made me some real lightweight slacks. I need about six pairs for summer wear. Yes, sir. I want them half inch larger in the waist than they were before except i want two or three inches of stuff left back in there so i can take them up. I vary 10 or 15 pounds a month. The pockets when you sit, the knife and money come out. I need it another inch in the pockets. Another thing, the crotch down where your nuts hang is always a little too tight. When you make them up, give me an inch i can let out there because they cut me. Its like riding a wire fence. Leave me you never do have much margin there. See if you cant leave me about an inch from where the zipper ends around under my back of my bung hole so i can let it out if i need to. If you get those to me, i would be grateful. Leader of the free world. Incidentally, Michael Beschloss who edited the transcripts of the tapes and turned it into a book, he cuts off that conversati conversation. I suspect he said, im a Pulitzer Prize winner. The world bung hole is not appearing in my book. He inherited a collapsing situation in South Vietnam, the kennedy team of best and brightest and who believes he needs some gesture in the realm of Foreign Policy to prove, number one, that he is not soft on communism, number two, that he is not a mad bomber like Barry Goldwater and number three, that he can act in a mature president ial fashion when dealing with a Foreign Policy crisis. This is very important, he wants a gesture that doesnt appear as though its going to siphon off a lot of money from the Great Society programs which he is in the process of constructing. He got his opportunity with the tonken incidents of august 1964. Let me give you background. In november of 1963, then president john f. Kennedy had approved a plan with the relatively colorless name, operation plan 345. This entailed South Vietnamese commandos conducting raids. They would blow up defensive positions and supply dumps. They would attack coastal radar transmitters. They usually traveled in u. S. Navy patrol boats. After hitting their target, they would return to base in da nang. It must be stressed while the United States was supplying the South Vietnamese who carried out the assaults, while the United States was providing advice, no american soldiers were involved. But the u. S. Navy was simultaneously carrying out top secret spy missions along the coast of North Vietnam. These were code named desoto missions. These operations were conducted by large intelligence gathering destroyers that recorded North Vietnamese radio and radar signals. Frequently these missions were conducted in conjunction with the 34a raids. The u. S. Navy vessels would obtain information about coastal facilities that would help the commandos of the 34a raids. As early as may 1964, william bundy, johnsons assistant secretary of state for far eastern affairs, he came up with an early draft of a congressional resolution whereby the congress wo